Arizona Diamondbacks – deadline looms for 40-man roster decisions

The Arizona Diamondbacks current 40-man roster is full. Tough decisions will indicate which players the new front office values

Around this time every winter, all 30 major-league clubs are faced with tough decisions regarding the composition of their 40-man roster. The Arizona Diamondbacks are no excpetion.

Teams have until Friday Nov. 18 to decide which players to protect for next season. After this date, prospects left off the 40-man are exposed to possible selection during the Rule 5 Draft.

The draft takes place on December 8th in National Harbor, Maryland, the last day of the Winter Meetings.

This offseason, Mike Hazen, general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and his baseball operations staff could protect seven prospects:

2. Anthony Banda, LHP
6. Domingo Leyba, SS/2B
9. Jack Reinheimer, SS/2B
10. Dawel Lugo, 3B/SS
14. Jimmie Sherfy, RHP
19. Victor Reyes, OF
30. Daniel Gibson, LHP

All the names listed above, according to MLB.com, are top 30 prospects. These prospects became eligible based on one of these two rules:

• Players signed when they were 19 or older and played four years of professional baseball
• Players signed when they were 18 and played five years of professional baseball

Assuming the Diamondbacks would like to keep a few of these names, spots could open up by designating a players for assignment.

However, there are other options to protect players. The Rule 5 draft occurs in three separate phases: the major-league phase, Triple-A phase and Double-A phase.

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Different Components

During the major-league phase, drafted players are placed directly on the receiving team’s 25-man roster. The selecting club pays $50,000 to the team they selected the player from.

The player must remain with the major-league team for the entire season and on the active roster for a minimum of 90 days.

If the relationship does not work out, the player is offered back to his original team for $25,000.

If the original team declines, the receiving team can waive the player.

The Triple-A phase allows teams to select remaining players left off the 40-man roster or the Triple-A reserve roster of 38 players.

The Double-A phase affords teams with the two options mentioned above, along with players left off the Double-A reserve roster of 37 players.

Generally, the pool of players in the Triple-A phase and Double-A phase do not rank among the organizations top 75 and 115 prospects respectively.

Case by Case

All indications point to Banda competing for final spot in the rotation this spring. As the organizations top pitching prospect, the 23-year-old lefty is high on the protected list.

Lugo is hitting .264 (23 hits/87 at-bats) with 13 RBI for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League.

Reinheimer and Leyba also play on the infield and the Diamondacks already have depth in that area at the major-league level.

It is hard to envision Mike Hazen, the GM keeping all three, unless their is room on the reserve list.

After receiving Reyes for their Competitive Balance Round B pick in last June’s draft, the 22-year-old finished as the organization’s fifth best hitter (.303). He played in 124 games for Class-A Visalia in the California League.

Arizona needs help in the bullpen, and after a little more seasoning in Triple-A Reno, Sherfy could be ready to contribute. He pitched to a 0.46 ERA in 16 games (19.2 IP) at Double-A Mobile.

Gibson pitched to a 0.40 ERA in 24 games (22.2 innings) at Mobile. The lefty earned a promotion to Reno, but struggled. In almost the same number of innings, he complied a 6.86 ERA, and opposing batters hit .298.

Other Notes:

• Zack Greinke won his third consecutive gold glove, becoming the first Diamondbacks pitcher to win the award.
• Greinke also captured, for the first time, the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award for pitchers.
• Paul Goldschmidt and Jean Segura were also nominated for gold gloves at first and second base respectively, but neither player won.
• Goldschmidt lost to Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs, while San Francisco Giants second basemen Joe Panik defeated Segura.
• On Monday, Arizona named Jeff Mousser Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting.
• On November 8th, Socrates Brito underwent surgery for a fractured right hamate suffered in winter ball.
• The Diamondbacks made minor changes to their uniforms.